Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid

Two games of rugby on Sky TV, which were as different as night and day, grabbed my attention over the weekend.

Every serious rugby fan in New Zealand and Australia would have tuned in to the Bledisloe Cup encounter played in Sydney on Saturday, returning test rugby to its traditional daytime setting.

The Bledisloe Cup match was played at the former Olympic Stadium in Homebush, Sydney, in front of 73,000 screaming Australian and New Zealand rugby fans.

The second match I watched was a much more modest affair: the NZR Heartland Lochore Cup final between South Canterbury and Whanganui at Fraser Park in Timaru on Sunday.

The Bledisloe Cup game was a real tonic for All Blacks fans still suffering the pain of the three narrow defeats inflicted on “Our Team” by the Springboks in their recent four-match series.

Saturday saw an All Blacks side run rampant in the first half to lead 36-7 at the break after the opening 40 minutes.

For this ardent All Blacks follower, the second spell was just as enjoyable as the first, as “Our Team” defended like demons to hold the Aussies to just two second-half tries in a 43-21 victory. The best part was that we had swept the two-match transtasman series 2-0.

The Lochore Cup final is contested by the teams that finish fifth to eighth in the 12-team Heartland Rugby competition.

The Heartland Championship was introduced in 2006 and is contested by amateur players who receive a modest retainer during the season.

The Lochore Cup final was an absolute thriller, with defending champions South Canterbury seemingly on the verge of securing back-to-back titles as they led 42-38 when fulltime appeared on the sideline clock.

Whanganui continued to hammer away at the home side’s line, keeping the ball alive through phase after phase before finally crossing for the winning try after more than three minutes of uninterrupted attack to claim a dramatic 45-42 victory.

Heartland Rugby may seem a million miles away from All Blacks selection; however, both groups of players share a desire to compete at a level that brings out the best in their skills and talent.

Part of the incentive for playing in the Heartland competition is the opportunity to earn selection in the NZR Heartland XV at the end of each season. This year, the Heartland XV has a two-match schedule against a New Zealand Māori selection and the NZ Barbarians.

Players in provinces who are just below NPC level will often cross regional borders at the start of the season to join a Heartland union, giving themselves a shot at winning NZR silverware and earning a Heartland XV jersey.

There is no better example than the Bay of Plenty. The region borders Thames Valley to the north, East Coast to the east, with Poverty Bay beyond, and King Country to the south.

This creates a win-win scenario, providing Thames Valley, East Coast, Poverty Bay and King Country with an influx of talent while giving players a bigger stage in Heartland Rugby on which to showcase their abilities.

As the saying goes, “Rugby is the winner.”